Legislative Update Week of January 26, 2018

On Monday, Congress passed a Continuing Resolution which will fund the federal government through February 8th. It will fully fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years and delay Obamacare’s medical device, Cadillac, and health insurance taxes. The vote was 81-18 in the Senate, and 266-150 in the House. Under the deal Senate leaders struck to advance this latest stopgap, the Senate is expected to vote on immigration policy before funding expires again — likely exacerbating the same political tensions that led to this shutdown.

House

The House was out of session this week.

On Thursday, Rep. Pat Meehan (R-PA-7) announced that he will not seek reelection this year, after revelations that he used taxpayer funds to settle a sexual harassment case involving a former staffer.

Senate

On Tuesday, Jerome Powell was confirmed as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. The vote was 85-12.

On Thursday, the Senate confirmed R.D. James as the head of the Army Corps of Engineers in a 89-1 vote.

On Friday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that he opposes the immigration framework released by the White House on Thursday, a potentially fatal blow for the legislation in the closely divided Senate.

Administration

On Monday, a leaked draft of the principles for President Donald Trump’s infrastructure plan surfaced. The plan calls for incentivizing state, local and federal investment in infrastructure with grants. Clean water and drinking water infrastructure, which is among the top priorities, would be eligible for funding through approaches aimed at offering incentives for local and private investment, encouraging transformative projects and prioritizing rural projects. The federal government is expected to provide about $200 billion in grant assistance over 10 years.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed a pair of Section 201 Executive actions that impose tariffs and other trade restrictions on imports of washing machines and solar panels, saying the action will lead to more jobs and production in the United States.

On Thursday, the White House proposed to Congress an immigration reform plan that would give 1.8 million undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children a path to citizenship in exchange for dramatic restrictions on immigration going forward and a $25 billion fund for border security. A fact sheet on the plan can be found here.

On Thursday, it was reported that President Trump’s fiscal 2019 budget could come out as soon as February 12.

Also on Thursday, President Trump moved to fill four opens at the Federal Trade Commission. He nominated Joseph Simons, an antitrust attorney, as chairman; Noah Phillips, chief counsel for Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX), for a Republican seat; and Delta Air Lines executive Christine Wilson for another GOP slot. He also nominated consumer advocate Rohit Chopra for an open Democratic seat, according to the White House.